


A Single Dad

by petyrbaaaeeelish



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Dating, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Fluff, and wanting his son to like Sansa, petyr being a good dad, pure fluff, single dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-26 20:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19012855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petyrbaaaeeelish/pseuds/petyrbaaaeeelish
Summary: Petyr has secretly been dating Sansa for a long time, and decides it is time for his son to meet her. They are both hoping for the best, but they know Petyr's son will have a hard time understanding his father's desire to have a relationship with a woman he has never met before.





	A Single Dad

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quoyan_XI](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quoyan_XI/gifts).



> This story is dedicated to my friend @Quoyan_XI. I know it is your birthday this week, so I really hope you enjoy this fluffy fic. This one is for you :)

“Charlie gets the ball! He runs towards the net. He shoots and he…” The ball went into the corner of the net and my son let out a triumph yell. “…scores! And the crowd goes wild.” Charlie ran down the center of the field and slid down on his knees, just like he saw on the television screen this morning.

“Goal!” rang behind my ears, as I ran through the dingy soccer net to retrieve the ball. My son was was impatiently waiting for the ball, standing near the half line with an Irish rugby shirt of his favourite team and long soccer shorts to boot. He was pulling up his shin guards as he saw me running back towards the net, letting out a yell of surprise when I kicked the ball so high into the air.

My boy went for the ball, kicking it up the field to take it closer to the net. He was right footed, but he was trying to use his left foot as well, alternating between the two as he got closer. He kicked the ball to wide, missing the goal post by a few leagues and then let out an angry groan of annoyance. “Why you kicking the ball so far out for?” He shrugged his shoulders at me in reply. “You have no defense, Charlie! Come closer next time.”

“Alright.”

I walked over to the ball, feeling my bright red Nike t-shirt was sticking to the back of me. I pulled on the end of my shirt, flapping it around so I could feel some cool breeze going up it. It was late August, a few more weeks until school would start for him again. I knew our time together was limited, and it would be sad to see him back in uniform and on the school playground again.

“I’m hot!”

“Drink some water,” I reminded him. I heard the thumping of his soccer cleats as he ran towards the post, ignoring the soccer ball I held in my hand as he ran past me. Charlie plopped down on the solid ground, dusting up his black shorts with the dry dust of the earth. He held up his water bottle, and squirted the clear liquid into his mouth like the professionals would do. “Feel better?” I asked, after he swallowed a large mouthful down.

“Yeah.”

“Another twenty minutes and then we have to go home.”

“No.”

“You have to have dinner. Athletes eat, don’t they?”

“Yeah.”

“And you have to be big and strong,” I reminded him, and flexed my scrawny arm to try and prove a point. My boy giggled at me, seeing barely any muscles over my right arm. “Let me see yours then.”

Charlie flexed his arms as well, making a grunting noise as he tried the best he could.

“Eat your dinner and they’ll get bigger.”

“What are we having?”

“Homemade macaroni and cheese, your favourite.”

“Yay!” he screamed, and instantly jumped to his feet with a happy look about him. “Can we go to the park?” he suddenly piped up, and pointed behind me where a bunch of children his age were running across the sand.

“Only if you take off your cleats, they’re expensive.”

“Alright!” He was gone in a flash, sprinting down the long grassy field as fast as he could. I picked up our water bottles and the small container of first-aid, since he had a habit of hurting himself more often than not. I stuffed them inside of my backpack, trading my soccer cleats for some more comfortable shoes, and then with a tired sigh I rose to my feet to join my son. He was going down the slides by the time I reached the edges of the sandy park, hearing his cheers go off every time he slid down the red slide, his arms flinging in the air with excitement. I laughed at the spectacle, seeing my scrawny little boy of six climb up the park ladder to get to the slide again.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see I received another message from Sansa. I smiled at her answer, and then instantly replied to show her how excited I was to see her.

_I only hope Charlie takes it well._

“Dad look!” he screamed out, and leaped forward to catch the monkey bars just in time.

“Don’t hang upside down,” I warned him, knowing his next move before he even did it. “Or we’re going straight home, you here?”

“Yeah,” he moaned, and then reached his hand forward to grab a hold of the next bar. He made it all the way successfully, and then appeared bored since he made it all the way. A boy his age ran towards him and asked if he wanted to play Sandman, and off they went running towards any obstacle they could find to climb on it. A girl probably twelve years old or older was counting upwards to ten, while the rest of the kids frantically tried to find a hiding spot. “Sandman!” the brown-haired girl called out, and walked around with her hands outstretched and her eyes closed completely.

“Sandman!” my son called out in mockery, and then ducked behind a bright yellow wall on the top of the park once she saw him coming.

My phone buzzed in my pocket again, and I smiled at the message to see she confirmed the time for tonight. _I will have to get Charlie to take a shower,_ I mused, and glanced up to see his sweaty hair covering most of his brow. And get him to wear clothes that doesn’t have a smear on it, knowing he had a habit of getting his clothes dirty. “Sandman,” Charlie called out, and then slid down the slide, running all the way towards me only to hide behind my back.

“That’s cheating.”

“I’m scared,” he giggled.

“Well, you only have another minute, so you can’t hide behind me.”

“A minute?”

“Sixty seconds, and counting down,” I warned, and with that he ran off to be with his new friends once more.

* * *

Charlie climbed up on the high-stool; his eyes widening with curiosity as I opened the oven to inspect our food. “Hey squirt,” I teased, and then closed the oven once I was satisfied the meal was ready. “You took a shower?”

“Yeah.”

“Looking good,” I teased, and then leaned against the other side of the kitchen countertop to get a better look at him. “You get your good looks from me.”

He laughed lightly, eyes shining with happiness as he took me in. “Why is there a third place-mat set up?”

“Because I invited a friend.”

“Is it Varys?”

“No,” I drawled out slowly, which made him laugh even harder. “Not Varys.”

The boy readjusted his white polo, making him look more presentable for this unknown stranger. His stuffed animal was left on the countertop beside him, a small red panda I had bought for him at the zoo last week. His small fingers tried to brush his hair down, it was growing long past his ears at this point, a thing he took pride in.

“It’s a girl.”

“Ohhh,” he coed with a devious grin. “A girl?”

“A girl I like very much.” He smiled at me, and then giggled with excitement. “I think you’ll like her too.”

“Okay,” he softly replied, and then picked up his stuffed animal to hold it comfortingly.

“Her name is Sansa.” He nodded his head lightly in acknowledgement, eyes shining with worry. “She likes soccer like you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, and maybe you can ask about her favourite player or team?”

“Its Messi.”

“Oh, I’m not so sure about that one,” I chided, and then smirked at him till there were lines indenting both sides of my cheeks. “You’ll have to ask.”

“Messi is the best,” my son argued back, and the way he was so adamant about it you wouldn’t know he was Irish. “I’m hungry.”

“Give it ten more minutes, bud.”

“I’m thirsty too.”

“Have water.”

“I don’t want water,” he sulked.

I went over to the fridge, and then slid a water bottle towards him. “Athletes drink water,” I argued back, and Charlie let out a moan before he tried to open the water bottle. “Let me,” I offered, after he had trouble opening the lid. “Now, don’t drink it all.”

“Okay.”

I left him to go open the windows, and then turn on the ceiling fan in the kitchen. I was nervous, this was the first time I was bringing a girl I was dating around Charles. I have dated a few girls before, but it lasted for about three dates at most. It was hard for a single dad to get in a relationship, especially a man my age. I dragged my fingers through my greying hair, thankful that Sansa could appreciate my silver streaks at least. I pulled out my phone, seeing a message she sent twenty-minutes ago that she was on her way. She was taking the bus here, but I had every intention of driving her home.

“You have to go to the washroom?” I called out from the living room.

“No,” my son answered back in a soft tone of voice.

“Yeah, not nervous now, are ya?” The lack of response had me worried, so I quickly returned to the kitchen to see him clutching the red panda close to his chest. “It will be fine,” I assured him, before I laid a hand on the top of his head. “You’ll see! You’re a cute kid, there is nothing to worry about.”

“Will she be my new mommy?”

“No, she’s just a friend,” I reminded him.

“Will I ever see my mommy?”

“I told you she’s in rehab, remember?”

“Yeah.”

“She has to get better.”

“Yeah,” he replied in a softer tone of voice. He looked sad, and I took pity on the kid. “She’s been in there for so long.”

“Cause she’s sick.” I dragged my fingers down his thin brown hair. “And she wants to get better.”

_Even if she doesn’t want anything to do with our child._

“And that is why you have to stay healthy and strong,” I reminded him. “And drink lots of water.”

Charlie took a hold of his water bottle with his tiny hands and took another sip with his eyes on me. I smiled at my boy, proud of him, and hoped he wouldn’t fall into the same fate as his drug addicted mother.

 _Who knew one night with her could bring me so much hell,_ I mused, but seeing this little boy in front of me was the only saving grace from that one-night stand.

There was a knock on the door, so I lifted Charlie off the wooden stool and carried him in my arms as I made my way to the front door. Sansa was drop dead gorgeous when I opened the door, wearing a low V-neck tank-top with tight skinny jeans. She wore a large smile once the door was fully open, but it wasn’t for me. “Oh my god, you’re so cute!”

Charlie never liked to be called “cute” even if he was the most adorable looking thing in the entire world. He had his mother’s dark brown eyes, but the rest of his looks he had gotten from me. “Sansa, this is Charlie.”

“Awwww,” she coed, taking note of the stuffed animal he was still clutching against his chest.

“Charlie this is my friend, Sansa.”

“Friend,” she said from the corner of her mouth, raising an eyebrow at me with disbelief. I answered her with my own eyes, a puckering of my lips was enough to satisfy her.

She came in through the doorway with a frosty container and a bottle of wine in her hands. “This is for you,” she teased, and then pecked me on the side of my cheek. “And the mysterious item in the container is for your son.” She laid the items on the side of a shelf as she slid off her ballet flats, and then fluffed up her long red hair that she curled effortlessly just for tonight.

Charles was settled down on the ground, his hand clutching around my leg nervously.

“I hope your hungry,” I remarked to Sansa. “We’re starving.”

“I am too.” She picked up the items and followed me, noticing how nervous my son was around her. I knew Sansa had very little interactions with kids, so this would be hard for her as well. She was half my age- another obstacle for my son to wrap his head around, she looked to be in her late teens though she was twenty-six years old.

“Should I put your container in the fridge,” I teased, sensing she had baked something sweet for us.

“Yes, please.”

“The two of you have a seat,” I ordered, and then went over to the oven to pull our dinner out. It was nice hearing the conversation between Sansa and little Charlie, even though it sounded quite stilted.

“How do you know my father?”

“I met him.”

“How?”

“At one of my part time jobs,” she explained. “I worked as a waiter.”

“A waiter,” my son repeated. “Where did you work?”

“At Baglioni’s.” There was a brief pause before she offered, “An Italian restaurant.”

“But father doesn’t like Italian.”

“He never told me that before.” I smiled over the cheese I was grating, sensing the change in Sansa’s tone of voice as she feigned ignorance. In truth I only went there for business conferences, my boss tended to treat us all to the same restaurants. I had indeed met Sansa there, but it took well over three-months for her to finally go out with me.

“Do you like dogs? I like dogs.” I looked over my shoulder to see Charlie more at ease, his ruddy cheeks almost glowing in the red lighting of the evening sun. I walked towards them with my hands full, and settled the dish down for them to see the dinner I had prepared for them.

“I like dogs,” Sansa answered him, while she brushed her long auburn hair behind her shoulders. “I have one too.”

“You do?”

“Yes, it’s a large white husky and I call her ‘Lady.’”

“Because she’s a Lady?”

“That’s right.” Her blue eyes sparkled at me, and then she mouthed, “He’s so cute,” so my son would not hear it.

“Father doesn’t like dogs,” my son revealed. “He likes cats.”

“I like dogs too,” I argued back, though it was a lie.

“Petyr is more of a cat person,” Sansa surmised. She offered a quiet thank you when I dished the pasta over her plate, and then pushed her chair in comfortably till she was right beside my son.

“We had a cat for a bit,” Charlie relayed. “But he got fat and died.”

“Oh.”

“But I was too young to remember, and we lived in a different house back then. I miss that house.”

“This one is wonderful,” Sansa informed him. “And you have a backyard with a garden.”

“Yeah, but our other one was bigger.”

I kept my gaze downwards on my plate, feeling the need to stuff my mouth with food instead of arguing back with my son. A single father can only afford so much rent, and as my boy grew bigger his demands grew worse. I knew I spoiled him, and it was only until recently that I put my foot down and stopped this madness. _Its because he doesn’t have a mother,_ I knew, and then glanced up at Sansa wondering if she could ever be one for him.

“I live in a small apartment,” Sansa revealed, and then darted her eyes upwards knowing I knew her place all to well. “So, your place is much bigger.”

“You should come live here,” Charlie stated without fully thinking it through. “We have enough space, and you could sleep on the couch.”

“Oh, how kind,” Sansa said with sarcasm in between bites of her food.

“You can bring Lady too!”

“I should bring her the next time I come over.”

“Yeah!” Charlie was stuffing food in his mouth with happy contentment, enough for Sansa to turn her gaze to me instead.

“How was your day?”

“Nice,” I told her in truth. “We watched a soccer match this morning. I took him shopping for new shoes for school, since Charlie keeps growing.” I heard a tiny laugh escape him, Charlie was full of glee that he grow a few inches taller than the year before. “And then I took him to a park down the street for us to play soccer.”

“And I played Sandman,” Charlie piped up.

“And you went on the monkey bars too,” I reminded him.

“Yeah!”

“I thought I’d take the both of you out for ice cream, but I see you brought over desert.”

“We can have both,” Sansa said with a guilty expression. “Its only cupcakes.”

“Both it is,” I happily replied, and was pleased to see the two of the getting along so well.

* * *

Charlie made a gasp when I took Sansa’s hand in my own, caught off guard to see me holding anybody’s hand other than himself.

He was holding his ice cream cone in both hands, licking the same flavoured ice cream as the beautiful woman beside me. His chunky brownie chocolate ice cream was substituted for a creamy strawberry flavour, and he was doing his best to enjoy it. “I can get you another flavour if you’d like?”

“I’m good,” he simpered, and kept licking the sides as he noticed how quickly it melted.

I turned my attention to my chocolate mint ice cream, taking a bite out of the side of it to eat it more quickly. The ice cream shop was just down the street from us, on the corner of an intersection that was not to far from my son’s school.

Sansa was leaning her weight against me, her eyes lovingly staring at my profile before she directed her gaze to my son. She was unusually quiet, but I sensed she enjoyed the interactions between my son and I.

“You are getting yourself a mustache,” I teased, and let go of Sansa’s hand to offer a few napkins to my son. “There! That is much better.”

“Could we go to the park again?”

“Its getting dark, maybe tomorrow.”

“Alright,” he whined, and then skipped ahead of us with his half eaten ice cream in hand.

“He’s very cute.”

“I know,” I said with resentment. “And he knows it too.”

“Thank you for letting me meet him.”

“We’ve been going out together long enough. You should have met him sooner to be honest.”

“I think its better that we waited.” I agreed with her, and then strung my arm around her to pull her into my frame. Charlie was leaning over the edge of a fountain, dabbing his fingers into the cold water. It was a cool evening, the wind softly blowing against the green leaves. I took a seat on a wooden bench, bringing Sansa down with me until she could safely cuddle into my arms. Her hands rested over my chest, feeling the faint white lines of my striped crewneck sweater. “You look tired,” she observed, as she tilted her head upwards as though she wanted to kiss me.

“I’m not that tired.”

“You have to work tomorrow?”

“Another day at the office.”

“I’m working too.” She rested the side of her head on my shoulder, leaning the last of her body weight against me. “Back at the shop again.”

“Do you still want to manage it?”

“I’d think I would be good at it,” she confessed. “I love everything about the fashion world, its just… I don’t know where I exactly belong yet.”

“Is that why you quit your waitress job?”

“I got tired of my manager asking me to reveal my boobs,” she said in a curt tone of voice. “The only person allowed to see it is you.”

I smirked at her, and then turned my head away so she wouldn’t think so badly of me. Charlie was humming softly to himself, splashing his hands against the water with child-like wonder.

“It will be a while till you come live with me.” I returned my gaze to Sansa with a bit of nervousness. “It will take a while for him to get used to you. Charlie is shy you see, and he doesn’t like change.”

“I understand.”

“I’m aiming for Christmas, but will have to see.”

“Its August, so we still have some time.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, and tilted my head in a way that demanded her to kiss me. Sansa was quick to submit to my whims, dragging her hands around the back of my neck to kiss me full on the lips. I responded by inching my head away, kissing her open mouthed, feeling the need to dominate her suddenly. Her hands dragged up my thick locks, undeterred by the greys like so many women her age. I opened my mouth wider to kiss her lips again, tasting the strawberry ice cream that she recently finished. My hands feverishly curled around her back, pulling her into me more, and then I heard a noise that suddenly pulled my attention away from her. “Charlie?”

His mouth was open wide, and there was a clear look of disgust on his face.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. He took steps away, and then sat down on the side of the fountain with a look of repulsion. I let Sansa slip out of my arms, assuring her I would be back before I made my way towards my son. “Hey, Charlie.”

“Gross,” was the only thing he could respond too.

“Ummm,” I scratched the back of my neck nervously. “I shouldn’t have done that, at least not in front of you. I’m sorry.” I inched myself closer to him, noticing how his feet hardly touched the ground from where he sat. The area was becoming darker, the sun’s rays eclipsed by the trees that were just behind us. “You understand people kiss when they really like each other, don’t you?”

“She has cooties.”

“Yeah, she does,” I chuckled, and then brushed back his long bangs so I could see his face more clearly. “But I like them.”

“You said she was your friend.”

“She is my friend.” I let my hand slip downwards and rest over his tiny shoulder. “I like her as a friend and something even more than that.”

“Does she like you?”

“Yes, she does.” The boy’s gaze looked dead ahead at Sansa, she looked nervous under his look of scrutiny. “I like you both actually, and only hoped the two of you could get along.”

“Okay,” he responded in a low voice.

“This won’t change anything.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t believe me.”

There was a squeaking of birds overhead, which claimed the attention of us both. Charles leaned his body weight against me, obviously tired after our long day. I wrapped an arm around him, steadily lifting him up until I could carry him in both of my arms. Sansa walked towards me, skeptical at first, but once she saw that Charles was not fighting back she took a place by my side. “I should get back.”

“I’m driving you home,” I told her.

“Thank you, Petyr.”

“Your safety comes first.”

She laid a hand over my thick sweater, resting it over the bottom of my spine as I led the two of them back home. It was odd, but it felt like we were a family at that moment. I kissed the back of my son’s head, sensing he was on the verge of falling asleep. He was upset, I knew, but when he gets a little older, he will understand that it was perfectly natural for a man to kiss a beautiful girl like Sansa.

In another ten minutes I settled him down in the back seat of my car, strapping up the seat belt until he was safely secure. Sansa was already seated in the passenger seat, she hadn’t said a word to me the whole walk home.

“You shouldn’t worry,” I muttered. The engine started and I laid my hand over the clutch to put the car into reverse. “He’s too young to understand.”

“I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“I wanted to be kissed.”

“Did I ruin it?”

“No,” I argued back. The car pulled out of the shabby driveway, and then turned into the old cobbled road. “No, its just… Charles needs more time.”

“I wish the night went a different way.”

“Life isn’t a song,” I argued back. The old BMW went down the main road, and I estimated it would be a twenty-minute drive before I reached her small apartment building. “I thought the night went well.”

“Until the end.”

“Until the end,” I conceded.

“Do you think he will want to see me again?”

“It will be weird at first,” I deduced, as I looked through the rear-view mirror to catch a glimpse of my soon. “But maybe if we keep doing it, he’ll eventually get used to it.”

“Petyr!”

“It’s a well-known fact,” I argued back. “I’ll bet you twenty dollars by the end of September he won’t even blink an eye.”

“I don’t make bets.”

“Oh, but I do,” I drawled out in a sinister-like voice.  

She laid a hand over the top part of my thigh, and in a sultry voice asked, “When will I see you again?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Still not a fan of the baby sister.”

“That teenage twat, then no.”

“Then I guess you are going have to come earlier,” she teased.

“Take the morning off tomorrow.”

“Morning sex?” she hushed. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Why not?”

“I’ll be too sleepy,” she retorted, and then yawned into her hand to prove her point. “And I need the hours.”

“Your rent is unreasonably high.”

“Well, that’s what happen when you live closer to the city.”

“All the more reason to move in with me,” I deliberated aloud. “And morning… _you know what_ … is not so bad.”

“You sound like you’ve done it before.”

“No,” I droned. “But I fancy the thought of seeing you…” I looked into the rear-view mirror to see if my son was truly asleep.

“I get the gist of it,” she responded after a length pause. “Alright, I’ll call in sick tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll take you out for a nice lunch afterwards.”

“What about you? Don’t you have to work?”

“I make my own hours, sweetling.” The light turned red, so I had the chance to look her dead in the eyes. “I’m all yours.”

She leaned forward to peck her lips against mine, and then told me the light turned green in a vexing tone of voice. “Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.”

“Oh, it will,” I assured her with a smile. She laid a hand over the top of my right thigh again, but her gaze was looking upwards at the full moon that was currently shining down on us. She was my second chance in life, that random stroke of luck that made me feel like the happiest man on earth. Charlie would behave rather coldly to her at first, but I knew in time he would love her just as much as I. “I’ll pick you up Tuesday night,” I told her. “Will go out for ice cream again…” I wore a smug that made long lines crinkle the sides of my cheeks as I added, “…just the _three_ of us.”

 

 

 


End file.
